ABSTRACT
Problem behavior maintained by social-negative reinforcement often is evoked by a specific type of social interaction--the presentation of task demands. This study involved assessment and treatment of a more general form of social avoidance in which the establishing operation (EO) for problem behavior consisted of social interaction per se. Four subjects exhibited high rates of problem behavior during the play or demand conditions of a functional analysis (FA). A subsequent FA in which problem behavior produced escape from social interaction confirmed social avoidance for all subjects. A series of interventions aimed at attenuating aversive characteristics of social interaction then was implemented with 3 of the subjects. These interventions included vicarious reinforcement, conditioning of social interaction as a reinforcer, stimulus fading, and differential reinforcement (DRA) plus extinction (EXT). DRA plus EXT was the only condition in which decreases in problem behavior and increases in social interactions were observed reliably.
Subject(s)
Behavior Therapy/methods , Intellectual Disability/diagnosis , Intellectual Disability/therapy , Reinforcement, Social , Adolescent , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Outcome Assessment, Health Care/methods , Reinforcement, Psychology , Reproducibility of Results , Treatment Outcome , Young AdultABSTRACT
Most treatments for stereotypy involve arrangements of antecedent or consequent events that are imposed entirely by a therapist. By contrast, results of some studies suggest that self-recording, a common component of self-management interventions, might be an effective and efficient way to reduce stereotypy. Because the procedure typically has included instructions to refrain from stereotypy, self-recording of the absence of stereotypy, and differential reinforcement of accurate recording, it is unclear which element or combination of elements produces reductions in stereotypy. We conducted a component analysis of a self-management intervention and observed that decreases in stereotypy might be attributable to instructional control or to differential reinforcement, but that self-recording per se had little effect on stereotypy.
Subject(s)
Automatism , Reinforcement, Psychology , Self Care/methods , Stereotypic Movement Disorder/rehabilitation , Adult , Autistic Disorder/complications , Child , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Reproducibility of Results , Stereotypic Movement Disorder/etiology , Stereotypic Movement Disorder/psychologyABSTRACT
Functional analysis (FA) methodology is the most precise method for identifying variables that maintain problem behavior. Occasionally, however, results of an FA may be influenced by idiosyncratic sensitivity to aspects of the assessment conditions. For example, data from several studies suggest that inclusion of a tangible condition during an FA may be prone to a false-positive outcome, although the extent to which tangible reinforcement routinely produces such outcomes is unknown. We examined susceptibility to tangible reinforcement by determining whether a new response was acquired more readily when exposed to a tangible contingency relative to others commonly used in an FA (Study 1), and whether problem behavior known not to have a social function nevertheless emerged when exposed to tangible reinforcement (Study 2). Results indicated that inclusion of items in the tangible condition should be done with care and that selection should be based on those items typically found in the individual's environment.
Subject(s)
Behavior Therapy/methods , Mental Disorders/therapy , Reinforcement, Psychology , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Mental Disorders/psychology , Middle AgedABSTRACT
Comparisons of results from descriptive and functional analyses of problem behavior generally have shown poor correspondence. Most descriptive analyses have focused on relations between consequent events and behavior, and it has been noted that attention is a common consequence for problem behavior even though it may not be a functional reinforcer. Because attention may be prescribed simply as a means of stopping serious problem behavior, it is possible that naturally occurring antecedent events (establishing operations) might be better predictors of problem behavior than consequences. We conducted descriptive and functional analyses of the problem behaviors of 7 participants. Conditional probabilities based on combined antecedent and consequent events showed correspondence with the functional analysis data for 4 of the 7 participants, but antecedent events were no better than consequent events in identifying the function of problem behavior.
